What A Week

Just a few things that have happened in our household this week:

Quinn has a loose tooth. His new one is visible coming in behind the loose one. Can you say, "BRACES!?!" I hope not, but it doesn't look good. The boy won't even let me kiss him on the lips, so I cannot imagine how pulling his tooth is going to go. Maybe I need to invest in some full body armor.

Camryn misplaced her iPod. I hope it's found soon, 'cause Santa shelled out a hundred clams for that thing. I knew it would happen sooner or later (I would've bet on sooner; it took her 5 months to lose it...) BONUS: Her room and closet are clean because she's been frantically searching for it. SCORE.

I kept Camryn and Aiden home from school on Friday (it was a half day). We all needed a Mental Health Day (me more than them, but we all rested).

Bikes are cool again. All the kids plus the hubs have been riding bikes all week. They're begging me to get on mine, but it's too small for me. I need to go bike shopping.

Speaking of bikes, last night the hubs told the kids he had prizes to give them after church. He built it up, made it sound awesome... and it was.... for the little kids. They love the tall, bright orange flags that hang above their heads as they bike. You know the kind... they attach to the back of the bicycle and make you look like a huge goober so cars won't hit you (Did you know that? Cars won't hit goobers with gay flags hanging off the back of their bikes. Carmakers program them that way...) Anyhow, Aiden came inside sobbing last night, loudly declaring between heaves that he was NEVER, EVER riding his bike again because of that stupid flag. Don't blame you, bud. I told him to go take a shower (he STUNK!) and I heard him boo-hooing the whole time he was bathing. Bless his heart.

I took Beeson to the vet on Friday for "old man tests" as Camryn calls them. He wouldn't let the vet within 5 feet of him, which is not like Beeson at all. He clawed the vet and 2 techs and I got a call to come get him and make an appointment to come back with him next week. They think if I stay with him it will be better. That just means that they want ME to be the one getting clawed instead of them. I know how they are. (That full body armor is looking more and more tempting...)

Sophie also went to the vet this week. She has a bum paw. That dadgum cat has cost me more in vet bills this year than I've paid to keep my family healthy. I brought home a bottle of Prednisone pills to give Soph this week and then they want to see her back in 10 days. Whatever.

Lillian pooped her pants twice in the last 5 days. Don't know why. I thought it was the Stride gum, because I confused mannitol (which the gum contains... it's the powder on the gum that keeps it from absorbing moisture while in the package) with maltitol, which is a sugar alcohol that causes "intestinal discomfort" (aka "diarrhea"). I thought she was getting the runs from the gum, but now I'm not so sure. Either way, no more Stride gum for Lillo.

I made 40 mini loaves of banana bread yesterday. The older kids' school is having a Geography Bee tomorrow and I told them I'd make the bread as thank you gifts for the judges. I did the same for the spelling bee back in March. It was fun, actually. Lillian was chief banana masher and we had a great assembly line going. Good times. Lillian proposed that she and I open a restaurant and serve our banana bread in it. She really got into it.

Lillian tried to escape the compound yesterday morning. Her neighborhood friend Kayleigh came to the door in her PJs and Lillian opened the door. That set off the alarm, so hubs jumped up and went to see what the commotion was. Lillian, already fully clothed, was trotting across the lawn towards Kayleigh's house. Evidently she'd seen Kayleigh coming and quickly changed clothes so she could go play. This was about 8 am yesterday. I don't know if K's family knew she was prancing around the cul de sac in her PJs, but we made Lillian come back inside.

Quinn also tried to get away this week. One night around 10:30 I heard the alarm beeping the warning that means you have 30 seconds to enter the code before the big sirens go off. I heard my husband rush to the laundry room and enter the code to turn off the beeping. Then he came into our bedroom and said, "Quinn's getting into his car seat!" I followed him to the garage, where indeed, our boy was attempting to buckle up. Hubs started talking to Quinn, and Quinn started laughing like a maniac. He laughed all the way inside, all the way through a visit to the bathroom, and all the way to his bedroom, where he hit the pillow and went back to sleep with a smile on his face. He's done this before (gotten up in his sleep) but he's never made it past the den.

Hubs and I went to see Larry the Cable Guy last Saturday. My cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. My favorite line: "I bet the Wal Mart is empty right now!" meaning his entire audience was comprised of Saturday night Wal Mart regulars. If you've ever been to the Wal Mart on a Saturday night, then that's funny to you. If you haven't, you must get out more. It's a real freakfest. Grab a snack and go sit on a bench near the checkout. That's some fun stuff right there. Oh, and Larry (I can call him that, 'cause we're tight...) had a joke that hit close to home. He said he would never get his eyes checked by an eye doctor at the Wal Mart. HA! That's what hubs does. He said, "Can you imagine that exam? The doctor would say, 'Cover one eye and tell me how many teeth the cashier out there has.'" Funny.

That's about all I got this week. At least it wasn't a meme.

Purple Mountain Majesties

After church, the hubby suggested we do *something* today besides sit around the house.

Okay. I'm game.

We chose Caesars Head State Park because our older daughter had been there on an end-of-school field trip. The pictures she brought back were amazing. We've lived in Greenville since 1996, and I've known about Caesars Head since then (even driven by it by accident on the way home from a Thanksgiving buffet at an inn in North Carolina once on a foggy, foggy day...) but we've never taken the time to visit.

Today we did.

And wow.





First of all, it was 76 degrees at the top of the mountain. It was 84 when we started the climb. That alone was worth the trip.



At the lookout point, our heads were literally in the clouds. It was completely breathtaking. I've been in the mountains before, but I was just blown away by the view from this particular spot. The pictures do not do it justice. We were so very high above the trees, I felt like I was soaring.



Gorgeous. And it's been about 45 minutes from my house all these years. I gotta get out more.

We went down some steps and ended up in Devil's Kitchen, which is a tight space between two rocks.



The hubby was in a hurry to get out of there, so I couldn't take a lot of pictures (I was in front of him... I've known the man for 14 years and never once have I known he was afraid of tight spaces!)

Funny thing happened as we were walking out of Devil's Kitchen. The family went up some stairs, and I hollered at them to stop and turn around so I could get a picture. Aiden decided to go all Gangsta on me, so he did the crossed arms with the peace signs:



I snapped the picture, and then said, "Aiden, normal pose, please!" As I was snapping the second picture, the hubby fwapped Aiden on the back of the head, because he was still doing the Gangsta thing, as was Quinn (I realized when I was editing the pictures...)



Parent moments. Gotta love 'em.

It started pouring rain as we reached the end of the trail, but I managed to get this shot. I colored it black & white, and I think I'm going to have it printed as an 8x10. I like it.



We left the park, and about halfway back down the mountain road we stopped at Bald Rock. By this time it had stopped raining, so after a safety lecture we got out and explored some more. This rock was really cool, but I was sad that people have felt the need to leave graffiti on it over the years. Who knew my older kids would learn about bongs as a result of a trip to a beautiful state park?

Aiden: Mommy, look! Somebody spray painted a bag of burning money on the rock!
Me (absolutelt NOT thinking):Uh, that's not a bag of money.
Aiden: What is it?
Me, realizing what I'd just said: Uh, um, er... it's just NOT a bag of burning money.

And I should've left it at that, but Aiden is nothing if not PER-SIS-TENT. It didn't help that Camryn was eavesdropping on the conversation. Being highly inquisitive herself, she just wouldn't let it drop.

Me: OKAY. It's a bong. People put drugs in it, light it on fire and smoke it. It makes you act stupid like grown up drinks do when you drink too much.
Them Okay. Yuck!
Me: Just say no to drugs, y'all.

Nancy Reagan would be so proud.

I got these great shots on Bald Rock:





I love that one of my boys standing looking out over the edge of the rock. (Don't worry... it doesn't drop off. It's a gentle slope. It just looks like they're on the edge of the world.) I can't wait to scrapbook it. There's some kind of story to be told there about taking a leap of faith or something inspiring like that.

As we were walking back to the car, I came across this:



I knew I'd make my mark on the world, but I never knew it'd be like that.

For These, I Am Thankful

This is my lovely family:



There is my sweet husband, who loves me unconditionally. I make him mad a lot with my little quirks, but he still adores me. I take advantage of him a lot, because I know he'd do anything for me, and he doesn't say a word. He's the most amazing father and the world's greatest husband. I love him to pieces. I'm thankful God sent me such a wonderful helpmate.

There is my 9 year-old daughter, who frustrates me daily with her pre-teen angst. But she's loving and talented and smart (too smart, maybe!) and beautiful and caring and gentle and headstrong and determined and all of the things a mother wishes her daughter to be. I love her more each day.

There is my 6 year-old son, with his freckled face and gap-toothed grin. He's a lefty, which I love. It makes him more unique. This boy is so smart, so loving, so complimentary, so desperate to please, so helpful, so tidy, so imaginative, so very kind. He's my pride and joy and when I look at him sometimes it takes my breath away that he's mine.

There's my goofy 5 year-old son, with his loud screaming and his constant smiles. He's got joy in his heart, and he makes me laugh. He's a snuggler, too, and when he climbs up in my lap and rubs my arm, it just makes me feel like nothing can take away our happiness. Those moments are pure magic.

And there is my bubbly 3 year-old, whose corny faces make me laugh long and out loud, so much that my sides ache. She has personality with a capital P, and more energy than I have ever seen in a child. She goes full throttle all.day.long, and is almost instantly asleep when her head hits the pillow. Her hair smells fantastic, and she loves to be read to. She's my pixie, and I adore her.

I don't know what I ever did to be rewarded with all of these blessings, all this love, all this joy, but I work hard every day to deserve it.

Thank you, God.